Nationals candidate for New England
Barnaby Joyce
has denied reports of a $700,000 campaign donation from mining magnate
Gina Rinehart
, but has not ruled out accepting donations from Mrs Rinehart in the future.

“What is the problem with Gina Rinehart? She’s one of Australia’s most successful businesswomen," Senator Joyce told ABC Radio on Wednesday. “So what is the issue? We are scared that we actually have a mining company that’s Australian."

‘Utterly hypocritical’

“Mr Windsor, he is a multimillionaire by reason of the sale of his property to a coal mine," Senator Joyce said. “He is a very successful person. He’s buying between $5 million and $10 million of property outside of the electorate. Can’t you see there’s something totally and utterly hypocritical here?

“You’re dealing with a person who makes these sweeping statements that are kind of not the truth, some of them are just plain wacky, they’re right out there, and you just have to deal with it."

Senator Joyce said he would probably not be able to accept donations from Ms Rinehart in future because of the publicity associated with her.